Dredd
Netflix | Amazon | Epix | iTunes | Vudu
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Pete Travis
Starring Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey
Lionsgate
Originally Released: July 11, 2012

Dredd, the most recent adaptation of the hero/antihero Judge Dredd, who made 2000 AD the amazing comic book it was, was easily my favorite movie of 2012. Dredd is above and beyond that of the appalling version featuring Stallone in the 1990s, and though it has some faults, it comes with some of the most stunning cinematography effects and visuals, along with an exciting action chronicle that keeps your attention.

For those unfamiliar with the lore of Judge Dredd, sometime in the distant future, the human race is recovering from some kind of apocalyptic event involving radiation. The surviving society in the remains of the United States gather together in megacities, originally established to remain sequestered from radiation, but since expanded to gigantic proportions with a massive population density.

Rewind This!
Directed by Josh Johnson
Starring Frank Henenlotter, Drew McWeeny, and Charles Band
FilmBuff
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Available on iTunes
Official Site

Videotapes once played a huge role in my life. I grew up in a family that never had much money to splurge on weekend excursions to the local cinema, except on rare occasions. Therefore, we were reliant on home video to keep us up to date on the most popular movie releases of the day. In the beginning we had to not only rent the videos, but also the VCR to play them, and a neighborhood store called Video Circus carried the early model “top loaders” that were big enough to build the pyramids of Egypt with. For years my younger siblings and I were fixated on certain movies and every time my mother offered to rent us a movie for the weekend, we were always crowing for Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol or The Princess Bride. As I got older, I started to build my own collection of films on tape; my library officially kicked off on Christmas Day 1993 when my late grandmother Betty gifted me Batman Returns, Beetlejuice, and The Rocketeer.

Once I got my first job and suddenly felt the rush of having real money in my pocket for once, I purchased more tapes and even my first VCR, which I picked up dirt cheap at a thrift store. When I was 20, I started working for a Tower Records and Video in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia and took great advantage of an amazing employee discount to build my movie collection into a literal library of cinema. Having a VCR and access to digital cable movie channels precipitated the purchase of blank video tapes that could three to four movies depending on their length and how much storage space was on each tape. Within a few years, I had more movies than I had time to watch them.

This week, Edward Snowden strikes again, this time with the U.S. spy “Black Budget,” a new Kindle, Samsung‘s watch, Microsoft buys Nokia, Tosin’s Pax Prime experience, and more…

The Star Wars #1
Written by J.W. Rinzler
Illustrated by Mike Mayhew
Adapted from an Original Rough-Draft Screenplay by George Lucas
Colored by Rain Beredo
Lettered by Michael Heisler
Cover by Nick Runge
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 4, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

At first glance, the “The” in The Star Wars #1 looks like an unfortunate typo. After all, everyone knows (or should know) that the George Lucas-created Star Wars franchise doesn’t and never has carried an article before the title. It’s simply Star Wars. The “the” in this comic book series, however, isn’t a typo or mistake. It’s intentional. It’s the new eight-issue mini-series produced by Dark Horse Comics based on, as the cover proudly proclaims, Lucas’ “Original Rough-Draft Screenplay” for Star Wars (“Longer ago, in a galaxy even further away”¦” per the cover copy), as in the first screenplay Lucas produced on the long road (three years) between the release of American Graffiti in 1974 and the release of Star Wars three years later.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today is a Lord Of The Rings-inspired design called “A Long Journey” by TeoZ.

The shirt went on sale at RIPT today, Friday, September 6, 2013, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

The t-shirt is available in men’s (through 3XL), women’s, and youth sizes for $10 each. Kids sizes are $10 (Girls, Toddlers, and Onesies); Hoodies for $38 (in Men/Unisex sizes). Shirt colors are in brown (see images on product page). You can also get the design on coasters for $25; iphone (4/4s & 5) cases for $18; and prints (18″x24″) for $20.